Reluctance electric machines, such as motors and generators, typically include a stator that is mounted inside a machine housing and a rotor that is supported for rotation relative to the stator. Reluctance electric machines produce torque as a result of the rotor tending to rotate to a position that minimizes the reluctance of the magnetic circuit and maximizes the inductance of an energized winding of the stator. A drive circuit generates a set of stator winding currents that are output to stator pole windings and that produce a magnetic field. In response to the magnetic field, the rotor rotates in an attempt to maximize the inductance of the energized winding of the stator.
In synchronous reluctance electric machines, the windings are energized at a controlled frequency. Control circuitry and/or transducers are provided for detecting the angular position of the rotor. A drive circuit energizes the stator windings as a function of the sensed rotor position. The design and operation of sensorless switched reluctance electric machines is known in the art and is discussed in T. J. E. Miller, “Switched Reluctance Motors and Their Control”, Magna Physics Publishing and Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1993, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Conventional switched reluctance electric machines generally include a stator with a solid stator core or a laminated stator with a plurality of circular stator plates that are punched from a magnetically conducting material and that are stacked together. The stator plates define salient stator poles that project radially inward and inter-polar slots that are located between the adjacent stator poles. The stator typically includes pairs of diametrically opposed stator poles. The rotor also typically includes pairs of diametrically opposed rotor poles. Windings or coils are wound around the stator poles. The windings that are wound around the pairs of diametrically opposed stator poles are connected to define a phase coil.
By providing current in the phase coil, magnetic fields are established in the stator poles that attract a pair of the rotor poles. The current in the phase coils is generated in a predetermined sequence in order to produce torque on the rotor. The period during which current is provided to the phase coil, while the rotor poles are brought into alignment with the stator poles, is known as the active stage of the phase coil.
At a predetermined point, either as the rotor poles become aligned with the stator poles or at some point prior thereto, the current in the phase coil is commutated to prevent a negative torque from acting on the rotor poles. Once the commutation point is reached, current is no longer output to the phase coil and the current is allowed to dissipate. The period during which current is allowed to dissipate is known as the inactive stage.
In order to maintain torque on the rotor, to thereby optimize machine efficiency, it is important to maintain the relationship between the position of the rotor and the active stage of each phase coil. If the active stage is initiated and/or commutated too early or too late with respect to the position of the rotor, a constant torque on the rotor will not be maintained and the machine will not operate at an optimum efficiency. Conventional switched reluctance electric machines attempt to maintain the relationship between the active stages of the phase coils and the position of the rotor by continuously sensing rotor position.
There are two distinct approaches for detecting the angular position of the rotor. In a “sensed” approach, an external physical sensor senses the angular position of the rotor. For example, a rotor position transducer (RPT) with a hall effect sensor or an optical sensor physically senses the angular position of the rotor. In a “sensorless” approach, electronics that are associated with the drive circuit derive the angular rotor position without an external physical sensor. For example, the rotor position can be derived by measuring the back electromotive force (EMF) in an unenergized winding. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,107,772, 6,011,368 to Kalpathi et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,982,117 to Taylor et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,929,590 to Tang et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,883,485 to Mehlhorn, U.S. Pat. No. 5,877,568 to Maes et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,777,416 to Kolomeitsev, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,772,839 to MacMinn, which are hereby incorporated by reference, a drive circuit estimates the rotor position from the inductance of the phase coil.
Another sensorless approach outputs diagnostic pulses to the unenergized windings and senses the resulting electrical response. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,596 to MacMinn, et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,589,518 to Vitunic, which are hereby incorporated by reference, a drive circuit employs voltage sensing pulses that are output to an inactive phase coil.
In switched reluctance electric machines using the “sensed” approach, the RPT detects the angular position of the rotor with respect to the stator. The RPT provides an angular position signal to the drive circuit that energizes the windings of the switched reluctance electric machine. The RPT typically includes a sensor board with one or more sensors and a shutter that is coupled to and rotates with the shaft of the rotor. The shutter includes a plurality of shutter teeth that pass through optical sensors as the rotor rotates.
Because rotor position information is critical to proper operation of the switched reluctance electric machine, sophisticated alignment techniques are used to ensure that the sensor board of the RPT is properly positioned with respect to the housing and the stator. Misalignment of the sensor board is known to degrade the performance of the electric machine. Unfortunately, utilization of these complex alignment techniques increases the manufacturing costs for switched reluctance electric machines equipped with RPTs.
The RPTs also increase the overall size of the switched reluctance electric machine, which can adversely impact machine and product packaging requirements. The costs of the RPTs often place switched reluctance electric machines at a competitive disadvantage in applications that are suitable for open-loop induction electric machines that do not require RPTs.
Another drawback with RPTs involves field servicing of the switched reluctance electric machines. Specifically, wear elements, such as the bearings, that are located within the enclosed rotor housing may need to be repaired or replaced. To reach the wear elements, an end shield must be removed from the housing. Because alignment of the sensor board is important, replacement of the end shield often requires the use of complex realignment techniques. When the service technician improperly performs the alignment techniques, the sensor board is misaligned and the motor's performance is adversely impacted.
When sensing the angular rotor position using the “sensorless” approach, variations in the electrical characteristics of the individual stator pole windings can adversely impact the ability of the sensorless drive circuits to correctly derive the angular rotor position. Most of the sensorless approaches measure the resistance and/or inductance of the windings. If the resistance and/or inductance varies from one stator winding to another, the drive circuit may incorrectly determine the angular rotor position.
There are several conventional methods for placing the winding wire on the stator of a switched reluctance electric machine. The winding wire can be initially wound and transferred onto the stator poles. Transfer winding tends to leave excess winding wire or loops around axial ends of the stator poles. Transfer winding can typically utilize approximately 60-65% of available stator slot area. Needle winding employs a needle that winds the wire directly on the stator poles. The needle, however, takes up some of the stator slot area, which reduces slot fill to approximately 50%. The positioning of winding wire on the stator poles using these methods varies from one stator pole to the next. Winding creep and other assembly variations also impact the inductance and resistance of the winding wire over time, which makes it difficult to accurately perform “sensorless” control due to the non-conformity of the salient stator poles.
It is difficult to hold the winding wire in place during wrapping and forming of the windings. This is particularly true for salient stator poles of reluctance machines that typically have teeth with parallel sides that do not hold the winding wire very well. Tangs or circumferential projections have been used on the radially inner ends of the salient stator poles to provide a stop surface to retain the winding wire in place. The tangs limit a slot opening dimension between adjacent salient poles. As the size of the tangs increases, the ability of the tangs to retain the winding wire improves. However, as the size of the tangs increases and the slot opening dimension decreases, it becomes more difficult or impossible to employ the conventional needle and transfer winding methods. Widening of the tangs may also compromise performance. In addition to retaining the winding wire, there are other electrical reasons for widening the tangs, which would be precluded by these winding methods.
When using needle and transfer winding methods, the position of winding wire on the stator poles varies from one stator pole to the next and from one electric machine to the next. In other words, the individual winding turns are positioned differently and the cross sectional pattern of the stator pole windings is different. As a result, the inductance and resistance of the stator pole windings often vary from one stator pole to the next even though the same number of winding turns are used.
While the design of switched reluctance electric machines is relatively mature, there are several areas requiring improvement. Specifically, it is desirable to improve the torque density of switched reluctance electric machines. By increasing the torque density, the size of the switched reluctance electric machine can be reduced for a given torque output and/or the size can be maintained with an increase in torque output. Electrical machines achieving higher torque density will allow designers of products equipped with switched reluctance electrical machines greater flexibility in product design that may lead to increased sales through product differentiation and/or improved profit margins.
It is also desirable to eliminate the need for RPTs in switched reluctance electric machines. It is also desirable to assemble the stator of a switched reluctance electric machine in a highly uniform and repeatable manner to improve the performance of sensorless switched reluctance motors by reducing variations in the inductance and resistance of the stator.